Enactment of the Statute of Labourers
The enactment of the Statute of Labourers, a royal decree aimed at suppressing peasant wages post-Black Death, is being formalized in Westminster Palace. The nobility and clergy are asserting control
Setting
Westminster Palace, London, England. The scene unfolds in the Great Hall, a vast and imposing space with high ceilings and stone walls adorned with tapestries depicting royal and biblical scenes. The hall is filled with nobles, clergy, and officials gathered for the enactment of the Statute of Labourers.
Characters
Royal Justiciar
primary
A tall, imposing man in his late 40s with a stern countenance, his sharp features accentuated by a closely trimmed beard streaked with silver. His piercing grey eyes command attention, and his upright posture exudes authority. His hands are well-manicured but bear the faint scars of old sword training, hinting at a martial past.
Nobleman
primary
A tall, broad-shouldered man in his mid-40s with a well-groomed beard streaked with grey. His piercing blue eyes and high cheekbones give him an air of authority. His hands are strong and calloused from years of overseeing his estates, yet adorned with several gold rings.
Abbot
secondary
A middle-aged man of slight build with a gaunt face, deep-set eyes, and a prominent nose. His tonsure is neatly trimmed, and his hands are delicate, accustomed to holding a quill rather than manual labor. His posture is upright but not rigid, reflecting a lifetime of monastic discipline.
Scribe
secondary
A thin, middle-aged man with a slightly hunched posture from years of bending over parchment. His face is pale, with deep-set eyes shadowed by candlelight, and ink-stained fingers that betray his profession. His dark brown hair is cropped short in the clerical style, and he wears a pair of small, wire-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose.
Guard Captain
background
A battle-hardened military officer in his late 30s, with a broad-shouldered, muscular build from years of combat training. His sun-weathered face bears a jagged scar along the left jawline, a memento from the French campaigns. Steel-gray eyes survey the hall with disciplined alertness, framed by dark eyebrows that are perpetually slightly furrowed.
Dialog
Royal Justiciar
My lords, in perpetuum, this statute restores order—wherein it may be observed that the Crown cannot suffer men to demand wages thrice their worth, lest the realm descend into chaos.
Nobleman
By my oath, Abbot, your tender conscience forgets whose bread these knaves eat! Shall we let the churls beggar us while divine law grants us dominion over them?
Abbot
It behooves us to consider—as the parable of Lazarus teaches—that even the lowliest laborer is God’s creature. Must we bind them harsher than Pharaoh bound the Israelites?
Royal Justiciar
We find this provision most judicious: no man may refuse labor at the accustomed rate, nor flee his lord’s lands. Thus shall the realm’s vineyards be tended.
Nobleman
Accustomed rate? Aye—what was customary when my fields lay fallow for want of hands! Let the Church feed them with scripture if it pities them so.